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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. face — to point toward
  3. spring — the season
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. file — a line of people
  7. face — part of the head
  8. spring — a coil
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. file — a tool
  11. spring — of water
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — to come from
  17. file — a document
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. net — after costs
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. face — to confront
  24. net — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com